After the Final Reset
by Trueheart Zen
Summary: Three monsters trying to raise a child in the human realm isn't easy, but for Frisk, it's more than worth it. While Frisk seems to have lost the ability to reset, when they develop other powers, things get a lot more challenging for their monster guardians. Post Pacifism
1. That kid sure has a lot of nightmares

AN: This is a post pacifism AU, where Sans, Papyrus, and Tori have adopted Frisk, and are raising them in the human realm. This will have Undertale spoilers, so please play the game first! :) I'll be sticking to canon (or at least my own interpretation of canon) as best as possible, but infinite timelines mean infinite possibilities, so if my interpretation is different than yours, forgive me :)

My version of Frisk is gender neutral (but a "he/his" pronoun may have accidently slipped in here and there, so forgive me) and is mute (speaking in sign language). I just wanted to clear that up so I don't confuse anyone :)

I have a pretty clear idea of where this is going, and so hope to update regularly (but holidays are coming up, so forgive me if I'm a bit slow!). There's also going to be quite a bit of domestic fluff in between actual plot points because fight me.

Sorry for the long author's note, I'll try to keep them short and sweet in the future. Here's hoping my story doesn't give you a bad time ;)

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Chapter One - That kid sure has a lot of nightmares -

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 _"Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you."_

-Nietzsche

* * *

Sans woke to the sound of the human shrieking unintelligibly. He bolted out of bed and ran to Frisk's room, one eye glowing brightly so he could see where he was going.

"Wake up kiddo." He whispered, nudging their shoulder. "You're having a bad dream."

Frisk whimpered and wriggled, finally opening their eyes slowly. Then they screamed again, moving away from Sans so quickly that they fell off the bed.

Pap and Tori were in the doorway by then, one of them having flicked on the light. "Sans!" Tori chastised, "What did you do to Frisk?" She ran over to Frisk, scooping them up in one arm.

"I didn't do anything." Sans defended. "I heard them screaming and I came in to check on them."

"Are you okay, Frisk?" Tori asked the hyperventilating child in her arms. Frisk responded by burying their face dearer into Tori's fluffy neck. She sighed. "You probably frightened them a little."

Papyrus walked over and sat beside Sans on Frisk's bed. "I don't understand how anyone can think Sans is scary. Look at him!"

Papyrus had no idea. And he was going to keep it that way. "Thanks, bro." He looked up at Pap, who was glowing his own eyes in response to Sans' own. That helped a little.

Frisk sniffled, looking up at them from their safe place in Tori's arms, before recoiling again at the sight of both Pap and Sans' glowing.

"Will you turn your eyes off? It's probably what's scaring them."

"Sorry, Tori." Sans said, dulling his glow until it had dissipated. Had Frisk seen Pap and his eye glow before? He had battled Papyrus – if you could call it a battle, but Sans didn't think that –

Frisk didn't have memory of the other timelines, did they? It would make sense if they did, but the kid sure didn't act like it. For as much, trouble, as they had put him through, Sans hoped that they didn't remember. He hoped that he was the only one that remembered the resets. It was easier that way.

"You okay Sans? I don't think I've ever seen you that deep in thought before." Pap asked.

Sans chuckled. "It's nothing, bro." He looked up at Tori. "Is Frisk okay?"

"I think they're asleep again." She replied, a relieved smile on her face.

"Okay, well I'm headed back to bed." He shrugged. "Come on Papyrus."

"Goodnight Tori." Papyrus said, following Sans out into the hall.

"Sans." Papyrus said, putting one hand on his shoulder before Sans could turn into his room.

"Yeah, bro?"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm alright Pap. It's just weird getting used to the human's weird habits. Some of them don't make sense."

Papyrus seemed content with that answer. "Well, try not to think about it too hard and get some sleep – not that you need it."

"Hey, some people need more beauty sleep than others. Maybe you should try it."

Pap sighed. "Goodnight Sans."

Sans did spend some time awake, thinking about the human, but he succumbed to sleep easily, despite everything on his mind. He was awoken the next morning by Frisk poking him in the forehead.

"What do you need, kid?" He asked, not wanting to open his eye-sockets.

There was a quiet pause as Sans remembered that Frisk couldn't actually speak. He opened his eyes, taking a second to adjust to the light in his room. "Okay, now tell me."

'Breakfast.' Frisk signed. 'Please.'

"Still haven't convinced Pap that spaghetti isn't a breakfast food, huh?'

Frisk shook their head.

Sans sat up. "Alright, what would you like?"

'Pancakes? And bacon.'

"You've got it kid. One Frisk special, coming up." He got out of bed and Frisk followed him into the kitchen.

"You want some pancakes, Pap?" Sans called into the living room, where Papyrus was watching cartoons. It had to be Saturday.

"Yes please! With chocolate chips!" Papyrus called back, not even turning away from the screen. For someone who didn't like to cook anything other than spaghetti, he sure liked it when Sans cooked.

"Should we asked Tori if she's hungry, or do we let her sleep?" Sans asked Frisk. She had probably stayed up half the night watching Frisk sleep, but he felt bad about not offering to make her food.

'I'll ask her.' Frisk replied.

While Frisk went to talk to Tori, Sans busied himself looking for the pancake mix. Of course it was on the top shelf. Making it blue, he pulled it down to his own level with magic.

He turned around to see Frisk pulling one of the dining room chairs into the kitchen. They really needed to get that kid a stepstool or something.

"Need some help?" He asked, and Frisk shook their head in response. They sure were determined. "Not too close to the stove now." He was starting to sound like Tori. Geez.

"Is Tori awake?"

Frisk shook their head no.

"We'll just let her sleep then." He set the bowl with the pancake mix and water in it in front of the kid. "Mix this for me while I get the bacon out of the fridge." He also handed them the bag of chocolate chips. "Add about a cup of these, too."

After a thorough examination of the fridge, Sans deduced that they were out of bacon. "Hey kid, are we accepting substitutions on the bacon?"

Frisk nodded in response.

"I'm assuming you don't want meatballs with your pancakes."

Frisk turned around and stuck out their tongue at him.

"Hot dogs?"

Frisk groaned.

"Sausage it is then. How many do you want?"

Frisk held up three fingers.

"You've got it, kid."

After breakfast, Sans and Frisk joined Papyrus in his cartoon watching, the kid curling up by Sans's side as he dozed. Whatever he had done to frighten Frisk the night before, it hadn't left a lasting impression.

Frisk tapped his shoulder. "What's up?" He replied, looking over at them.

'What makes your eyes glow?'

"Well, a lighter might do the trick, but I use magic."

'Why do you do it?'

"It's something Pap and me do to cheer each other up. It's very soothing."

"Are we talking about our glowing eyes?" Papyrus asked, looking up at them from his spot on the floor.

"We are, care to weigh in?"

"Sans taught me how when I was little and still afraid of the dark. I'm not afraid of anything now, but it made a great nightlight."

'Can you teach me?'

"Well, you'd need magic, kid."

Frisk frowned. Sans ruffled their hair. "It's more trouble than it's worth some days. Trust me."

"That's a lie Sans, magic is the-" Papyrus stopped, noticing Sans' look.

'Can humans get magic somehow?'

Papyrus looked at Sans for the answer. "Can they?"

"I'm not sure. That's something Toriel might know though."

"What might I know?" Tori called sleepily from the hallway.

"Can humans have magic?"

"No. Humans have determination." She replied in her matter of fact manner.

Frisk puffed their lip out into a pout.

"Sorry kid. You get the blood and guts, we get the glowing eye-sockets." Sans tried not to remember how aware he was of the fact that kid had a lot of blood in them for someone so small, but the memories just wouldn't leave his head. It wasn't real. Not anymore. He didn't have to remember it.

But it felt so real. Even with Frisk, the real Frisk at his side, the one that he claimed as his own, despite everything, the memories felt so real.

Sometimes, he wondered if the resets had even happened, or if he had just imagined it all. The kid didn't seem capable of doing any of the things he remembered. Or at least, not under their own power. It seemed more like a bad dream than anything now.

"Sans?" He vaguely heard Papyrus say. " _SANS_."

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

Sans suddenly realized that he had been trying to ignore his memories of other timelines for a while. How long had he been spacing out? "I'm fine." He yawned. "Just in need of a good nap."

"I can't believe that I'm related to someone as lazy as you."

Sans yawned. Some sleep would clear his head. Hopefully. "Tough luck, bro."

He leaned into the soft back of the couch, and in moments was asleep again, barely sentient of Frisk deciding to occupy the space between his arm and chest. Humans put off a lot of heat, and it only helped to lull him to sleep. Hopefully, neither of them would be doing any dreaming.

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I hope you enjoyed! Please be sure to review and tell me what you think!

-Zen and Sirius


	2. Thankfully Toriel isn't offended by goat

AN: Thank you all so much for the support of this fic! I wasn't expecting so many followers so soon and I can't even begin to tell you how much this means to me! 3

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Chapter 2 - Thankfully Toriel isn't offended by goat puns

Sans walked in after work to a quiet house. He knew that Papyrus was hanging out with Undyne, but it was probably too early for Tori and Frisk to be in bed.

He found the two of them snoozing in Tori's rocking chair; Frisk was drooling a little, sprawled across Tori's lap. The book Tori was reading them on the floor underneath her limp hand.

They sure were the life of the party.

Tori opened her eyes slowly, covering her yawn with one hand. "How was work, Sans?"

"The usual." He shrugged. "They're really working me to the bone."

Tori chuckled. "I don't think prohibiting you from napping counts."

"It's pretty hard to get through the day without my midday nap."

"And your post-midday nap - nap?"

She wasn't wrong. "That too." Of course, working at a fast food place wasn't that difficult, but it was hard not to curl up in the back of the freezer and sleep. What else were those towers of boxes for? A little fire magic and he'd be warm and comfy for hours.

Tori looked down at Frisk, who was sleeping peacefully. "Will you move Frisk to their bed for me? They're getting a bit too heavy for this me to carry." Frisk had put on a little weight lately, which was good, because they were pretty scrawny when Sans first saw them. Almost as if they had been on their own for a while.

"Alright. Come on kid." He picked them up with a cloud of blue, gently removing them from Tori's arms. He could feel their heartbeat, despite the fact that he wasn't touching them - an eerily familiar sensation. His hand quivered, giving the sleeping Frisk a little shake.

"Sans, are you okay?" He had almost forgotten what he was doing. That could have been bad.

"I'm fine. They're just a little heavy, like you said." This kid was going to be the death of him.

"You're probably a little tired after work. I can carry them."

"I've got them. I promise. You said they were getting heavy, and I'd hate for you to hurt yourself."

Tori sighed. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Careful is my middle name." Sans assured her, directing the sleeping Frisk out of the living room with one glowing hand. He could do this. Carrying the kid to bed wasn't that hard.

It occurred to Sans as he directed Frisk up the stairs that he didn't have a middle name. Or at least, not one that he was aware of. But that was irrelevant.

He tucked Frisk into bed, taking his time to make sure the nightlight was plugged in, and the shades were drawn. He paused for a second in the doorframe, watching the kid's chest rise and fall as they slept.

He never thought he'd ever make it here. Living underneath the bright blue sky, and it was all thanks to that sleepy little human. Papyrus was working on getting their license, and Tori was going to school to be a teacher. It seemed like everyone's dreams were coming true.

It was almost too good to be true. And in a way, it was. They had no idea how narrowly they had come to missing out on all this, how often they all had died at the hands of the same kid who had helped lead them to freedom.

Sans hoped they wouldn't reset. Did they even still have the power? He wasn't sure. He had seen them reset so many times, he had seen everyone stand blinking in the midday sun for the first time, and he had seen them all die. It was amazing to him that this was the timeline that he got to live out.

For now, the kid seemed content with their life. And Sans wasn't even sure if the kid was aware of the fact that they could reset, or if they were the one with the power in the first place. He had watched Frisk fight, and the way their hands shook holding their knife, the way they seemed so trusting of his false promise of mercy, just wanting to put down their weapon and cry (and they had, once, for Papyrus). It was almost as if something, or someone had been controlling them. Like Frisk was a puppet or plaything that had been tossed aside after the puppeteer got bored of them.

Sans tried not to think about it that much. It had been months since they had left the underground. So much time had passed since the last reset that Sans was almost starting to believe that there wouldn't be another one. They had _never_ made it past looking at the sky before.

He closed the door to Frisk's room slowly before heading back downstairs. It never did him well to dwell on what was no longer real, and he wouldn't now.

"What are you working on, Tori?" Sans asked, sitting next to Tori at the dining room table, where she was ferociously typing, little red tufts of magic flowing from her hooves and flying over the keyboard. And she chastised him for overuse of magic.

"Just finishing up a paper for my child psychology class." She replied, glancing at him before returning back to the screen.

"Alright, well I'm going to go pick up Papyrus." Suffice to say, Pap was having trouble getting his license. Something about the concept of speed limits seemed to perplex him. "Do you need anything while I'm out?"

"No. Um, would you mind keeping an eye on Frisk tomorrow night? I'm uh – going out."

"Where are you going?"

"Well, the king – Asgore – and I – are um.."

"Do you have a date Tori?"

"No! No. We're just going to talk about.. things."

"Way to get back on the horse. Or goat, as it were." He winked.

" _Sans_! We are not getting back together. We just haven't had the chance to talk since-"

"It's been awhile. I get it. I'm just messing with you." He grinned.

"Thanks. I won't be gone long. You'll need to make Frisk and yourselves dinner though, or I could cook for you beforehand-"

"I think we can figure it out Tori, my cooking hasn't killed the kid yet." That was something.

"Right. Sorry, I'm just a bit nervous."

"Sounds like the king has really got your goat."

"Sans. I _goat_ have time for your humor."

"Are my jokes too _baa-aad_?"

"I just really need to get my homework done. It's a matter of _principal_."

Sans chuckled, almost not hearing the ding of his phone as it lit up with a text from Papyrus. He texted him back to let him know he was on his way.

* * *

"Sans, I think we should get the human a pet." Papyrus said as Sans was getting ready to read him a bedtime story.

"I've always wanted a dog."

"NO."

"What's wrong with dogs Papyrus?" He snickered.

"They ruin everything!"

"How about a cat then?"  
"We don't need something else in this house as lazy as you."

"We've already got a goat, two skeletons, and a human, Pap, I don't really think we need anything else."

"But pets are important for a child's development."

"Have you been reading Tori's textbooks again?"

"I just want to be the best parent to Frisk that there ever could be. And that requires studying just as much as Toriel!"

Sans smiled. His brother really was something else. "Let's just read our story, Pap."

Soon, Papyrus was snoring, his head resting again Sans' leg, and Sans was getting rather sleepy himself. He could walk all the way to his bed, but that seemed like a waste of energy. Instead, he allowed himself to fall over, taking up almost the entire pillow as he fell asleep curled above Papyrus' head.

Papyrus was right, he was a lot like a cat.

* * *

"Sans? Sans!" He was being shaken.

"What?" He opened his eyes to a dark room and a very concerned looking Papyrus, his glowing eyes casting an orange glow on the room.

"You were talking in your sleep. It was very concerning."

That snapped him awake, his left eye suddenly shining a brilliant blue. "What did I say?"

"You were telling someone to give up. Just like you did.. What were you giving up on, Sans?"

"Nothing Papyrus. It was just a bad dream. It wasn't real." His hands started to shake as he suddenly had memories of the dream he was having. If he had a heart, it would be beating out of his chest. Instead, his soul quivered within him. It wasn't real. It wasn't.

Some days, he wasn't sure if it was ever real to begin with.

"You seemed really upset."

"I'm okay Pap, I promise."

"You have almost as many nightmares as the human does."

"Heh. Apparently it runs in the family." Sans leaned over and wrapped his arms around his brother's neck. "I don't know what I'd do without you, bro."

Papyrus seemed taken aback by Sans' display of affection, as he almost always was, but he snuggled Sans back. "You don't have to worry about that. I, the great Papyrus, will never leave you. I promise."

While Papyrus made that promise a lot, it was the first time Sans could believe him.

* * *

AN: Sorry for my abuse of nightmares in this story, I promise I'll tone it way down as the plot gets rolling, but I couldn't resist letting Sans and Pap have a moment. I'm also still getting a feel for how I'm going to write Tori, so forgive me in these first few chapters... I'll stop being self depreciating now :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and please be sure to review and tell me what you think! Or leave a bad pun in the comments, I might even use it! :)

-Zen and Sirius


	3. Sans isn't allowed to make up holidays

**AN: There are so many follows/favorites on this story already and I can't even begin to describe how much that means to me :3 Thank you everyone for reading this, and I hope to continue making this story worth the follow.**

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Chapter 3 – Sans isn't allowed to make up holidays anymore

Sans awoke to the incessant buzzing of his alarm clock. Groaning, he reached out his hand and slammed the snooze button. Two minutes later, it went off again, and there was literally no part of him that wanted to get up for work. He hit the snooze button again.

Of course, he didn't really need to work. The gold pieces they had been using for currency in the underground were worth enough in human currency to set them for life, but Sans couldn't stand not working. He needed to be doing something with his life, or else he was worried he'd just sleep it away. Even if it was just working fryers at a fast food place, or morning shifts at the coffee shop (where he needed to be in about an hour).

The idea of working today, however, seemed very mundane. Until he got an idea.

He got dressed quickly before going over to wake up Frisk. Groggy, the human gave him a confused look. "It's take your Frisk to work day." He explained. "Get dressed, I'll meet you downstairs."

"Hey Tori, I'm taking Frisk with me today." Sans said to Tori as she was pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

"Why?"

"It's take your Frisk to work day."

"That sounds like a highly specific holiday."

"That's because I just made it up." He grabbed a cereal bar from the box in the cupboard, tossing it to Frisk, who had just walked into the kitchen. "Think fast."

Frisk reached out to catch it, but not fast enough for Sans to pull it away with a snap, floating it a couple inches away from their outstretched hand. They giggled and lunged forward to grab it, and Sans snapped it away again.

"I said think fast, kid. I think you're still asleep."

Frisk jumped forward again, and this time Sans let them get it.

"Are you sure it's okay with your boss if you take Frisk with you?" Tori asked, concerned.

"It'll be fine. We're going to have fun, right kiddo?"

They nodded, still in the middle of munching their cereal bar.

"Alright, well, call me if you need anything. And make sure you feed them something nutritious for lunch."

"I'm off work at noon, we can go out to eat."

"Grillby's doesn't count as nutritious."

"Oh, would you look at the time. We're going to be late, Frisk. Let's get going."

"Sans."

"I'll order them a side salad. Don't worry Tori, they're in good hands."

* * *

"This kid doesn't look like it's yours." Sans' coworker, Emily said, looking between the grinning skeleton and the human child who was hard at work making a castle out of paper cups.

"I'm offended. Can't you see the family resemblance?" Sans replied, feigning injury.

"It must skip a generation. Just don't let them keep you from working, okay?"

"Hey, I don't need to use them as an excuse."

Despite her concerns, Emily took a quick shine to Frisk, bringing them a slice of pie when she caught them eating packets of sugar. "This is at least a little bit better for you." She winked.

"Having fun, kid?" Sans asked them, taking away their empty plate and fork when they were done. Frisk nodded in response, beaming.

"Good. I thought you needed out of the house for a while. And don't tell the queen mother that you're cheating on her pie."

Frisk crossed their heart in response, promising not to tell.

"So, Grillby's for lunch?" He asked. Since Grillby had set up shop on the topside, his food had gotten even better.

'But Mom said no.'

'Mom said feed you something nutritious. We'll order you a side salad.'

Frisk stuck out their tongue.

"I never said you had to eat it."

"Hey kiddo, is there a reason you're so silent?" Emily asked, leaning over the counter to give Frisk a glass of water.

Frisk looked at her, as though unsure of how to respond.

"Frisk here only likes to speak in sign language. They feel it adds to their mysterious character."

"And you took the time to learn it for them?" Emily said in disbelief.

"Believe it or not, I've known it my entire life." Sans replied. It was his and Papyrus' first language, not that they really remembered why.

"Is it just a monster thing, or another perk of being Sans?"

"Just another perk. Right kid?"

Frisk nodded in response.

A few moments later, Papyrus and Undyne burst in.

"Sans!" Undyne called across the shop, drawing the attention of several patrons.

"Sup."

"Brother! We heard from Toriel that it is take your Frisk to work day."

"Well, it must be, being as I brought my Frisk to work." He replied.

"When is my turn?" Undyne asked. She worked as a personal trained at a local gym, and hadn't injured a client yet.

"Do you want to go to work with Undyne, Frisk?" Sans asked.

Frisk took a moment before nodding.

"All right, but it's lunchtime first. Want to join us at Grillby's?"

"Sans. We are not taking Frisk to Grillby's." His brother said.

"What's wrong with Grillby's?"

Pap sighed. " _Grease_ , Sans. Growing humans need healthy food." They were _all_ starting to sound like Tori.

Frisk shook their head.

In the end, they decided on Grillby's. Sans could be very persuasive.

* * *

"Sans, where's Frisk?" Tori enquired, as he had came home without them.

"Undyne wanted to take them to work with her."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Of course. She only has one client today, so I'm going to meet up with them in an hour or so at Alphy's lab. They all wanted to take part in the holiday, too."

"The holiday that you made up?"

Sans shrugged. "All traditions have to start somewhere."

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, Undyne's face lit up his screen. "Sans' Mule Barn, head ass speaking."

"SANS. I THINK I BROKE THE HUMAN!" Her screaming gave him an instant headache, but there was no time it dwell on that.

"Where are you?"

"WORK."

"I'll be right there."

"Is everything all right?" Tori asked, seeing his worried expression.

"Everything's fine. I'll be right back." He ran into the kitchen, and in a flash of light, was at the gym.

"I'm looking for Undyne." He said to the startled receptionist.

"She's with a client."

"Where. It's urgent."

"Basketball court. Straight back and to the left."

Sans ran, panting by the time he had found Undyne and Frisk. Frisk was holding their arm and crying, and Undyne was kneeling beside them, trying (and failing) not to freak out. As Sans got closer, he realized they were bleeding profusely.

He kneeled beside them. "Undyne, what happened here?"

"We were playing basketball, and I tossed them up to the basket so they could make a shot and I tried to catch them but-

"Oh my god. Frisk, where does it hurt?"

Frisk merely clutched their arm closer.

"I'm not going to touch it, I promise. But you need to let me see, okay?"

They shook their head wildly, tears streaming from their eyes.

"Please, kiddo?" He gently wrapped his fingers around Frisk's and pulled their hand away from their injury. Something white and jagged was sticking through all the bloody red mess.

Was that their arm bone? Sans suddenly felt very, very sick.

"Don't you dare pass out on me, Sans." Undyne punched at him, Sans swinging his shoulder out of her line of fire.

"Thanks, Undyne. This looks pretty bad, kid, I don't know if I can heal it. We're going to take you to a doctor, okay?" Human doctors were probably better at healing human injuries. Tori would never have to know what happened.

Frisk nodded. Sans wrapped the entire arm in blue magic, so it wouldn't move. "I'm going to carry you, okay? You're going to be alright. I promise." Sans scooped them up in his arms, avoiding looking at the injury.

"Never fear human!" Papyrus' loud voice rang through the basketball court. "I, The Great Papyrus, have come to take care of you!" He ran across the court to Sans and Undyne.

"Papyrus, don't look at-" But it was too late.

"Sans, is that their bone sticking out of their arm?"

Sans's didn't even have the chance to answer before Papyrus fainted. Undyne narrowly catching him before he hit the ground.

* * *

The receptionist at the emergency room was surprised, to say the least, but she handled their ragtag band of monsters and Frisk pretty well, ushering them into a private room before they could garner too many curious stares.

"I'll need this filled out." She handed Sans a clipboard as a nurse got Frisk comfortable on a bed.

"Um, what is this blue stuff?" The nurse asked, confused. "I can't get to their arm."

"Whoops, that would be my magic. Let me release them from that." Sans helped the nurse rest Frisk's arm on a pillow.

"That's the best immobilization technique I've ever seen."

"Is your other friend, in need of medical attention?" The receptionist asked, gesturing at Papyrus, who was still out cold.

"My bro's fine, he's just never seen a broken bone before."

"That's incredible, considering."

"We drink a lot of milk."

The receptionist looked like she wanted to ask how, but decided against it.

"Would you like something for pain, hon?" The nurse asked Frisk, who nodded in response. "Alright, I'll be right back with that, and the doctor should be in shortly."

"How you doing, kiddo?" Sans asked.

Frisk raised their uninjured hand to give him a weak thumbs up.

Sans looked down at the clipboard in his hands. "Hey Frisk, what's your last name?"

'I don't know.' Frisk signed drowsily, spelling it out letter by letter with his uninjured hand.

Sans looked at Undyne. "We have to call Tori."

"Anything but that." Undyne replied in a manner that Sans was unaccustomed to from her.

"We have to, she's their legal guardian, and I don't know any of this information."

"Can't we just wake Papyrus up and have him heal them with magic?"

Sans looked over at Papyrus, who was just starting to stir.

"I don't think he's in the right state of mind to try it. Besides, humans heal differently than monsters."

"Tori is going to _kill_ me."

"She'll just maim you a little." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Sans couldn't help but take advantage of the comedic value of Undyne's fear.

" _Sans_."

"Just make you wish you were dead."

" ** _Sans._** _Please_."

"You might want to let Alphy's know you love her."

"Sans, I will kill you."

He shrugged. "Take your best shot."

She swung, hard, and missed, Sans having jumped out of his seat faster than light. "Feel better?"

"I will once I actually manage to hit you." She growled. Time to quit while he was ahead.

"That's what they all say." He pulled out his phone. He had already missed fifteen calls from Tori. "Whelp. Here goes nothing." He hit call.

* * *

Once Tori had finished making the three of them feel properly terrible for letting Frisk get injured, she turned her attention to tending to her child.

The room was silent as the doctor came in with the x-rays. Frisk was half asleep from the combination of the day's events and the painkillers, Papyrus had passed back out at the very mention of broken bones, and Sans and Undyne were too scared of Tori's wrath to say anything.

The doctor was in the middle of explaining what they were going to need to do when they stepped over to Frisk and realized that the injury was gone. Tori had healed them. Sans had completely forgotten that Tori was highly adept at healing humans.

"Is this your idea of a joke?" The doctor asked, picking up the sleeping Frisk's arm and checking it for any sign of injury.

"No. These bone-heads know that I'm fully adept in healing magic, but decided to put my child through all this mess rather than bring them to me."

"I'll uh, get a nurse with the discharge papers then."

"Thank you."

"Tori, we're really sorry." Sans said quietly.

"It's fine. I was trying to find a way to get out of going out with Asgore tonight anyway." She admitted, a small smile on her lips.

"You had a date with the king?" Undyne asked.

"It wasn't a date."

"It was totally a date." Sans couldn't help himself.

" ** _Sans_**."

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed! Please be sure to review and tell me what you think!**

 **-Zen and Sirius**


	4. Asgore Receives The Talk

**My apologies that this chapter took so long to upload, but I kept getting distracted by family and significant other. Apparently the holidays are a good time to spend with people. Anyway, I hope you all are having happy holidays. I hope to have another chapter up before the new year, as the next one should have more plot than fluff.**

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Chapter 4 – Asgore Receives "The Talk"

"Are you sure you have everything you need?" Tori asked again, fussing with her earrings. "At least let me help you start supper." She had rescheduled her not-a-date with the king, and Sans had never seen her so anxious. He knew that she still didn't really want to go, but had felt bad about cancelling on him the last time. "I promised him a chance.", she had said, more to give herself strength than anything.

"We'll be fine, Tori. I promise. I'm about to start the lasagna now, and Alphys and Undyne will be over soon."

"Just keep an eye on Undyne, okay? I know she means well, but Frisk doesn't need another injury."

"We're going to make a pillow fort and watch movies. Maybe play a board game or two. Nothing is going to happen."

"What kind of movies are you going to watch?"

"Alphys is bringing over her Disney collection. Kids movies."

Papyrus walked into the kitchen with Frisk on his shoulders. "Are you sure you don't need any help cooking, Sans? You know that I am the master chef of the family."

"I know bro, but you're also the master builder and someone has to make that pillow fort."

"It is a challenge worthy of my greatness!" Papyrus replied with his usual gusto.

Toriel walked over and got Frisk down from Pap's shoulders. "Let's try to keep their feet on solid ground tonight, okay?"

Sans responded by levitating Frisk to the ceiling, flipping them around so their feet were on the ceiling. "How about this?"

Frisk giggled, and Tori cracked a small smile. "I don't think they can walk like that."

"Sure they can." Sans directed him, Frisk marching along so it looked like they were traversing the ceiling.

Tori giggled, despite herself. It was nice to see her smile. Sans let Frisk down slowly into her arms, as they heard a soft knock at the door.

"Is that Alphys and Undyne? Yippee!" Papyrus ran for the front door. "Tori, the king told me to say you have a gentleman caller!" He called a few minutes later. Good old Papyrus. Always so honest.

Sans snorted, and Tori shot him a look.

"Why don't you invite him in, bro?" Sans called. "I don't think our fair lady is ready."

"Do I look okay?" Tori asked, nervous.

"You look amazing, as always." Sans replied truthfully.

She took a deep breath. "Can you give me a minute?"

Sans grinned. "Happy to." He waltzed into the living room, and directed his attentions to his old boss. "Please, come sit down and tell me about yourself."

The king gave him a confused look.

"I hear you're interested in our Tori. Now, as you should know, she's pretty special to us, so I've got to lay down some ground rules if you want to take her out."

" _Sans_." Papyrus nudged him. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

"Well, as you said bro, he's a gentleman caller."

" _ **Sans**_."

Asgore sighed. "Sans, do we really have to do this?"

"I think we do. After all, I need to know that your intentions are pure before I let you take our lovely Tori anywhere."

Tori sprinted into the living room, almost tripping on her dress as she pushed Sans out of the way. "Hi, I'm ready to go now."

"Why the rush, we haven't even gotten a chance to talk." Sans was doing his best to keep a straight face.

" _ **SANS!**_ " Papyrus had had enough of his shenanigans.

"We do have dinner reservations, and I'm sure you have everything handled here." Tori said quickly.

"Well, you _kids_ have fun then." He ushered them out the door. "Remember to have her back by curfew!" Sans called out the door, as fatherly as possible, before retreating inside and bursting into giggles.

"I'm so disappointed in you, Sans."

"Why's that, Pap?"

" _YOU FORGOT TO REMIND ME TO LEND THE KING MY DATING RULEBOOK_!"

"I'll think they'll be fine, bro."

"What if they don't know how to open the dating hud?"

"I think they've both done this before."

"What if they forget and their date is a disaster?"

"Then they won't get back together and Tori will live with us forever."

A volley of loud knocks rocked the door that Sans was leaning against. He figured he had a precious couple of seconds before Undyne lost her patience and kicked the door open, and he was about right. He opened the door to Alphys struggling desperately to hold back her over-zealous girlfriend, Undyne's foot poised in preparation to kick.

"Where's Frisk?" Undyne demanded. "I brought them a present."

Sans turned around and found Frisk standing by Papyrus as Undyne barged in.

"Hi Sans." Alphys said softly as Sans ushered her in.

"It's nice to see you Alphys. I hope you like lasagna."

"Papyrus learned to cook something new?"

"Nah, I'm cooking." He replied. He needed to get started on that soon, too.

"What is lasagna, anyway?" Undyne asked as she helped to make sure that Frisk unwrapped their present with enough passion. It was a flowerpot with a (yellowing) echo flower sprout in it. A calm gift, considering the source, but Sans was sure that Alphys helped pick it out.

"Sans says it is like spaghetti cake. I am yet to be convinced." Papyrus explained.

"Just trust me on this. Anyway, pillows and blankets are in the living room. Did you remember the movies, Alphys?"

She removed a large DVD case from her purse. "I brought my whole collection."

"Sweet. I'll let you figure out how to run the DVD player." And with that, he left them to their pillow fort making as he took over the kitchen.

He worked rather quickly, listening to the muted laughter and conversation coming from the living room with a smile. It was nice to see everyone so happy.

"Sans, is your wanna-be spaghetti done yet?" Undyne called as he was just sliding his mozzarella cheese covered creation into the oven.

"I'm just putting it into the oven now."

"Remember to crank up the heat! Cooking things slow is for weenies!"

"Let's not, Undyne." He heard Alphys say. He remembered Papyrus telling him how he and Undyne were on first name basis with the city's firefighters. Some things never changed, he guessed.

Despite Undyne's complaints, supper was done soon enough, and they all gathered around the dining room table.

"This all looks really good, Sans." Alphys complimented him. He had done a pretty good job, after all. Not only had he not burned the lasagna, but there were breadsticks and salad as well. Tori had also made one of her amazing cinnamon-butterscotch pies for their dessert.

"Thanks, it's one of Tori's recipes, actually." He admitted, turning to pile salad on Frisk's plate. The kid stuck out their tongue, but San's topped the leafy greens with Italian dressing and extra croutons knowing that their aversion was mostly gone at this point.

"What would you like to watch after supper, Frisk?" Alphys asked while waiting for the salad bowl to be passed to her.

Frisk shrugged.

"There was a disk with a very cool looking skeleton on it." Papyrus said, dishing himself out a small amount of lasagna.

"I think that was your reflection, Pap." Sans replied.

"No, they weren't quite as cool as me."

"Do you mean The Nightmare before Christmas?" Alphys asked.

"I don't think the human should be watching movies about nightmares." Papyrus said. "They might get frightened."

"It's not a scary movie. It's really cute actually, it's about monsters, and the Pumpkin King is a skeleton, and it's really hard to explain but-"

"WE HAVE TO WATCH THE MOVIE ABOUT THE SKELETON KING." Papyrus interrupted enthusiastically.

"How about it, Frisk?" Sans asked.

Frisk simply nodded, their hands occupied by a forkful of lasagna and a breadstick.

"SANS!" Papyrus exclaimed suddenly, startling him.

"Yeah, bro?"

"THIS SPAGHETTI CAKE IS AMAZING." Papyrus had eaten their entire piece already and was going for another.

"Glad you like it."

"It's not as good as real spaghetti, and it's nothing like cake, but I approve of its existence."

That meant a lot. "Thanks, Pap. Try and save room for dessert though, Tori made pie."

"Is it spaghetti pie?"

"Cinnamon butterscotch, unfortunately."

"I don't understand how that is unfortunate."

"Of course you don't, bro."

After everyone had their fill of pie, they all piled into the pillow fort. It was pretty spacious, taking up a large section of the living room. Sans situated himself between Papyrus and Frisk with Undyne and Alphys on Frisk's other side.

"Ready everyone?" Alphys asked, her claw over the play button. The menu screen was a cutesy kind of spooky, and of course, Sans was yawning within a few moments, despite the upbeat opening theme.

"Sleepy already?" Alphys asked.

Sans nodded. "Movie nights aren't really my thing."

To his credit, he stayed awake until the dapper skeleton was exploring a winter world that reminded him a lot of Snowdin, but when Frisk started snoring next to him, he couldn't help but follow suit. He was sure Papyrus would recap the entire movie for him tomorrow, anyway.

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The sound of the front door opening awoke him, and he somehow untangled himself from the warm pile of pillows, monsters, and Frisk to see how Tori was doing.

"Sans, I didn't expect you to be up."

"I wasn't, but I'm a light sleeper."

"Sorry for waking you."

"You're good. I was a sentry for too long. Anyway, I saved you some lasagna in case the restaurant food was bad."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but he actually picked a decent restaurant."

"Good for him."

"I suppose. Is there any pie left?"

"There's a couple pieces left. Would you like some?"

"Sounds lovely. I was thinking of making a pot of tea as well. I need some time to think after a night like tonight."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

Tori sighed. "I'll put the kettle on."

Sans sat at the table while Tori filled the kettle with water. "Hey Tori, what kind of drink breaks the ice?"

"Hmm.. what kind?"

"Flir-tea."

Tori giggled. "Well, since I am the former queen the only kind of tea I drink is royal-tea."

"I figured a future educator like you would be more into facul-tea."

She snorted. "You know, I don't think we can use this teapot."

"Why not?"

"It's been naugh-tea." She laughed at her own joke.

After a few more hilarious jokes later, Tori was smiling while she set a mug of tea in front of Sans. It was in the "World's Okay-est Brother" mug that Frisk had gotten him for his birthday last month.

"Not to toot my own horn, but I make the best pie." Tori said, after taking a bite.

"Alright, since you're forcing me, I'll have another piece."

They were both into their second cup of tea before Tori brought the topic of her date back up.

"I don't think we're going to get back together. Asgore and I, I mean."

The sudden subject change was surprising, but if she was ready to talk about it, he wasn't going to stop her.

"Did he pick up some gross habits while being a bachelor or something?" Sans always had the king pegged as the kind of guy that would wipe his greasy paws on the tablecloth if he didn't think anyone was watching.

"No, it's not that. It's hard to explain." She paused for some time, trying to find the words. "It just feels like after so many years apart, it might be too difficult to get used to being together again. Like the first decade I spent alone was horrible, because I missed him so much, but after that I, I think I fell out of love with him. More as a way to keep myself from coming back, even if I didn't agree with what he was doing at all. It would just be a lot of work to get things back to the way they were for us, and I'm not sure if it's worth it, as terrible as that sounds."

"It makes a lot of sense to me."

"Thank you." She paused. "Of course, there's also Frisk."

"What about Frisk?"

"Well, I get the feeling that Asgore would have difficulty accepting another human child as their own. Which I understand, but I really don't want to let Frisk take the damage for something they didn't do. It might just be me projecting my own fears onto him, but I don't want to take the chance."

Sans tried to hide his yawn, but it was getting pretty late. "It's hard to tell. We all want what's best for Frisk, so it's okay to be picky about who we want in their life."

Tori nodded. "I think it's time we got some sleep."

"Agreed. We left your bedding alone, just in case we all fell asleep in the fort."

She yawned. "I appreciate that. This old back of mine wouldn't take kindly to trying to join you all on the floor."

He smiled. "Goodnight, Tori."

"Goodnight Sans. And thanks for listening to me ramble."

"I may not have ears, but I'm always happy to listen." He shrugged, before leaving the kitchen to return to the snoring mass in the pillow fort. His brother had managed to get in between frisk and Undyne, who was kicking her feet. Alphys was close by, looking like she had been pushed away by Undyne's sleep-brawling. Sans decided to take the safe looking spot by Frisk. They were drooling a little, but he didn't think they'd drown him by morning.

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 **I hope you enjoyed! Please be sure to review and tell me what you think! :)**

 **-Zen and Sirius**


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